Ponkunnam (പൊൻകുന്നം) is a census town in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, part of

Kottayam district Kottayam (), is one of 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettumanoor, and Vaikom. It is the only district in Kerala that neither borders ...

under

Kanjirappally Kanjirappally is a taluk and a town in Kottayam district situated about away from the district capital, in the state of Kerala, India. Climate Kanjirappally has the highest number of rainy days in Kerala. It receives the highest amount of ...

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

. Ponkunnam literally means ''golden mountain'' (''ponn'' = gold, ''kunn'' = mountain). Nearby towns are Kanjirappalli, Manimala and Pala. This part of Kerala is famous for its fertile land and rubber plantations. It is at an altitude of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. The town is at the junction of two major roads in Kerala: NH220 and Main Eastern Highway. The climate is moderate with timely cold breezes and the town is the gateway to the Western Ghats. The town is famous for its volleyball traditions and customs. Almost every year there is an ever-rolling volleyball tournament happening in Ponkunnam Mahatma Gandhi Mini Stadium.

Overview

Ponkunnam is one of the busiest towns along the NH 220 comprising key administrative institutions of

such as the Kanjirapally Munsif Court,

DySP DYSP (909 AM) Super Radyo is a radio station owned and operated by GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Netwo ...

office, and

Regional Transport Office The Regional Transport Office or District Transport Office or Regional Transport Authority ( RTO/DTO/RTA) is the organisation of the Indian government responsible for maintaining a database of drivers and a database of vehicles for various sta ...

. It is a part of Kanjirappally State Legislative constituency and Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency. The town is also home to many educational institutions and healthcare facilities. Part of the Syrian Christian belt, there are many Syrian Christian agrarian families that reside here.

Religious places

* Chirakkadavu Mahadeva Temple, is on the way to Manimala, nearly 3 km from Ponkunnam Town. * Manakkattu Bhadra Temple, is on Ponkunnam - Mannamplavu Road, nearly 4 km from Ponkunnam Town. * Holy Family Syro Malabar Church - near KSRTC bus station. Ponkunnam Holy Family Syro-Malabar Roman Catholic Church

Ponkunnam Holy Family Syro-Malabar Roman Catholic Church

* Ponkunnam Puthiyakavu Temple is near the Ponkunnam private bus stand. * St.Marys Orthodox Church is on the Ponkunnam– Thampalakad road. St-marys-syriac-orthodox-church

* Mosque is near Ponkunnam bus stand & in Manimala road. * Latin Catholic Church 2 km from the town (westward) by the side of NH 183. * CMS church half km from the town at Attickal in PP Road. * Elamgulam Sreedharma Shasta temple and Elagmulam church are 5 km away from the town. * Panamttom Devi temple (Where the traditional travancore folklore padyani is held every year as a part of temple fest) is 4.5 km from Ponkunnam.

Notable persons

* Babu Antony, prominent South Indian film actor * Bipin Chandran, noted film script-writer from Kerala. *

M. D. Rajendran M. D. Rajendran is a malayalam poet ,lyricist and novelist. His father Ponkunnam Damodaran was a poet and activist. His siblings, M D Rathnamma and M D Ajayaghosh are also writers in malayalam. He was employed with All India Radio and retired ...

, Film director * Ponkunnam Damodaran, Poet from Kerala * Ponkunnam Varkey, one of the best writers from Kerala * Thampi Antony, an actor and novelist from Kerala

Transport

Road

Ponkunnam lies on the National Highway 183 (Old NH 220) connecting the City of

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south ...

and Theni. The NH183 connects

to the state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the busiest roads passing through Ponkunnam. The Main Eastern Highway ( Punalur-

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality situated in the Central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 3 ...

- Ponkunnam- Pala- Muvattupuzha) also passes through Ponkunnam. Main Eastern Highway is categorized as State Highway - 08 ( SH-08 ) of Kerala. It is the second-longest State Highway of Kerala covering a distance of . The districts it passes through are Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam. These highways connect Ponkunnam to Muvattupuzha MC Road (SH-01). The Ponkunnam- Pala-

Thodupuzha Thodupuzha (തൊടുപുഴ) is a municipal town located in Idukki district, Kerala, India, that covers an area of . It lies on the banks of Thodupuzha river, which merges with the Kaliyar and Kothamangalam rivers at Muvattupuzha to ...

- Muvattupuzha stretch of Main Eastern Highway was upgraded in 2016 to a width of . The two-lane highway, which connects Ponkunnam To Muvattupuzha over within 80 minutes. This makes it easy to access for the people of Highranges, tourists to Thekkady and pilgrims of Sabarimala to reach Muvattupuzha,

Angamaly Angamaly (''Aṅkamāli''), , Malayalam : അങ്കമാലി Situated about north of the city centre, the town lies at the intersection of Main Central Road (MC Road) and National Highway 544. MC Road, which starts from Thiruvanantha ...

and

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

. The Highway becomes congested during the months of November and December due to Sabarimala pilgrims. There is one KSRTC Bus stand and one private bus stand. Daily, there are many buses to

, Changanassery,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and also to the nearest towns:

Erumely Erumely, also spelt "Erumeli" is a panchayat in the southeast part of Kottayam district in Kerala state, India. Erumely is situated 49 km east of Kottayam town and 133 km North of capital city Trivandrum. It is situated on the way to ...

etc. KSRTC operates a chain service to Pala. KSRTC also operates a chain service from

Kumily Kumily also spelt as Kumaly is a revenue village and Gram Panchayat in the Idukki district of Kerala. It is a town in Cardamom Hills near Thekkady and Periyar Tiger Reserve. Kumily is a gateway town into Kerala from Tamil Nadu. History The ...

via Ponkunnam.

Railway

The nearest railway stations are

(33 km) and Changanassery (38 km).

Air

The nearest airport is

Cochin International Airport Cochin International Airport is an International airport serving the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. Located at Nedumbassery, about northeast of the city centre, Cochin International Airport is first of its kind which is devel ...

, Kochi (94 km).

References

External links

www.ponkunnamtown.in
{{Central Travancore Cities and towns in Kottayam district